


Rolls and Mashed Potatoes

by theHunter_and_theNinja



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Adorable Judith Grimes, Demisexual Daryl Dixon, Family Fluff, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Daryl Dixon, Picnic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Uncle Daryl Dixon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-05-06 08:42:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,094
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14638236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theHunter_and_theNinja/pseuds/theHunter_and_theNinja
Summary: Daryl and Paul have been pining after each other for over a year now and Daryl’s family is sick of waiting for the two to realize their mutual attraction. So, at their monthly family gathering, Michonne and Carol take matters into their own hands and confront Paul while Judith plays with mashed potatoes on Daryl’s lap.





	1. Old Married Couple Antics

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be a quicker one shot, but kind of got out of control. I am planning on working on a longer project, but this piece is probably only going to have 2 parts; maybe three if I get carried away again. Lol.
> 
> Tumblr: theHunter_and_theNinja (Feel free to send me fic ideas, I love writing but sometimes I just don’t know what to write about.)

It’s been almost a year since the war ended; a year since Daryl, Jesus, and Maggie had agreed to find a way to kill Negan despite Rick’s desire to spare him. Daryl and Maggie had suffered greatly at Negan’s hands and Jesus’ love and respect for Maggie drew him to the cause as well.

Before they went after Negan, however, Maggie wanted to make sure Hilltop could withstand any and all future attacks on it. This included expanding the walls in order to increase their food production and make more room for livestock. Daryl and Paul had spent weeks checking every farm within a weeks drive of the communities looking for any surviving horses, chickens, pigs, etc. Basically anything and everything that was normally found on a farm before the turn.

They’d managed to locate a few cows, horses, chickens, pig, and even a few lambs to bring back to Hilltop. They were not allowed to butcher the animals as they need to them to breed more before they could begin using them for food. The installation of the horses was to limit their gas consumption since it was a limited resource. Daryl still rode his bike, but he’d managed to find a way to not use gas.

His new bike ran on electricity, a style of bike that Daryl would never have been able to afford before the turn. Of course, the only original piece on the bike was the engine and charger, he’d replaced the sleek, white exterior with a grungy, dark material to make the bike fit his personality more. To charge it, Daryl hooks it up to a solar panel he scavenged and installed outside his and Jesus’ trailer. Jesus, who Daryl has taken to calling Paul because the nickname Jesus “is just fucking ridiculous” according to him, calls it a “ _Frankenbike_ ” since it is basically a mashup of about 20 different types of bikes. Paul had even somehow managed to find a couple frankenstein themed decals and circle emblems for Daryl to put on it.

At first, Daryl had been resistant to the idea, but Paul insisted that more people would want bikes and it could be a trademark for any bike he designs. Daryl finally relented, revealing the changes on the day everyone believed to be Paul’s birthday. They almost didn’t know it when it was. Paul refused to tell anyone claiming he didn’t care all that much about it. If it wasn’t for Paul’s inability to say no to Maggie, especially right after she’d given birth to her and Glenn’s son - Hershel, he probably never would’ve told anyone.

Daryl also gave Paul an electric bike for that Daryl had designed specifically for him. The bike was mostly composed of old Harley parts with some other random pieces here and there. It was a shiny, dark blue color with Ninja themed decals on the sides with one of the frankenstein emblems proudly displayed on the front of the bike and the very back, the metal plate, where a license plate normally would be, was painted rainbow with a black, silhouette decal of a guy doing karate in the middle. Paul had practically strangled him with a hug when he saw it and the two had spent the rest of the day riding them on the open roads surrounding Hilltop.

Paul didn’t ride his bike as much as Daryl did, preferring the bike when it was just the two of them and riding a horse when more people were with them. Daryl, on the other hand, avoided riding the horses as much as he could. He’s been wary of riding horses ever since the incident that occurred while he was searching for Sophia. Just thinking about riding one all the way to Alexandria to meet up with his family for their monthly dinner had the scar he’d earned from the arrow that he impaled himself on while falling down the hill burn.

He knew it was a stupid fear, but Paul had seen how nervous he was about riding and encouraged Daryl to take his bike instead and Paul would ride his bike, too. That way they could scout ahead and clear the way for Maggie and the others.

Every month, the Georgia family met to share a meal at one of the communities and catch up with each other. It was often in Alexandria because a majority of the family still lived there. Daryl had moved to Hilltop right after the war in order to avoid Negan and stay close to Maggie. Carol went to the Kingdom and Tara and Rosita joined Oceanside. Carol, Jerry, and Ezekiel had arrived at Hilltop that morning so that they could rest their horses before departing for Alexandria. Tara and Rosita were meeting them there.

Daryl’s hands itched to rip out Negan’s throat every time he was there, especially now that Hershel had been born and was the spitting image of his father, but the timing was still not right. Besides, it wouldn’t be right to ruin baby Hershel’s first visit to Alexandria by murdering Negan and pissing Rick and Michonne off. This was intended to be a happy reunion and introduction of Maggie’s newborn baby. Maggie still very much wants Negan dead, but she’s able to look past her hate in order to allow something good. The kind of patience that Daryl had taken a much longer time to grasp.

* * * 

“I see you, put that back!” Carol demand smacking Daryl’s arm away from the fresh venison stew sitting on the counter.

“What? I only wanted to make sure it’s as good as you said. Don’t want you fucking up the deer I caught this morning.” 

Carol gave him her infamous “I’m not falling for your bullshit” stare. Even Rick couldn’t withstand that look. Daryl raised his hands in surrender as Carol forcefully ushered him out of the kitchen.

“I was just doing a quick taste test,” Daryl said jokingly.

“There will be plenty for you to eat when dinner is served now get out of here and let me cook!”

Laughing, Daryl left Carol’s house and continued down the street to where Rick was standing giving him a confused look.

“What’s up with you?”

“Carol caught me trying to steal food again.” 

Rick burst out laughing in disbelief, “when are you going to learn that shit doesn’t work? What was it this time?”

“A bowl of her venison stew.”

Rick laughed harder attracting the attention of Michonne and Paul who were nearby.

“What? I tracked it, caught it, skinned it, butchered it, and packed it up to bring here; the least she can do it let me taste it before she serves it.”

Rick shook his head laughing at his brother’s food wars with Carol. He was always attempting to sneak food when she was cooking, especially the meat. To this day, he hasn’t managed to avoid getting caught either in the act or right after when Carol notices something’s missing. He never stopped trying though and, at this point, Rick was willing to bet Daryl did it more to mess with Carol and for the challenge than because he’s actually hungry.

“Did you try to take food again?” Paul laughed, joining the conversation while still snapping the ends off the green beans they’d brought from Hilltop’s gardens, “How far did you get this time?”

Michonne was giggling too as she continued to peel the potatoes they grow here in Alexandria. Rick walked back over to check on the chicken cooking on the grill. The chickens had been the first thing Daryl and Paul had brought back and once they’d managed to locate a rooster, they had more chickens than they knew what to do with so they gave some to both Alexandria and the Kingdom.

Each community now had a rooster, but it was still only recently that they’d enough chickens to start using them for food. It still is considered a rare treat since they don’t want to exhaust their chicken resource to the point they don’t have enough chickens for eggs which are, by far, more important.

“Didn’t even get out of the damn kitchen. She’s watching that stew like a fucking hawk. Only got about three spoonfuls before she snatched it and shoved me out of the kitchen.”

They all laughed at that and Daryl tried to keep a straight face and hold his annoyed posture, but he quickly failed and joined in on the laughter of his family. Daryl’s smile abruptly dropped into a shocked gasp when he saw Paul pick up something from underneath the table. It was one of the rolls Carol had baked for the meal.

“The fuck is that?!? Why is it that she’s giving you food before dinner and not me?” Daryl asked in disbelief.

He wasn’t mad at Paul, just simply bewildered. He wanted in on Paul secret on how to get Carol to let him eat the food early. 

“She didn’t give it to me,” Paul said smugly, obviously enjoying himself and the effect the situation had on Daryl.

Everyone’s jaw dropped at the revelation. They all knew he was quick and sneaky given his ability to slip his bonds and explore Alexandria the night they brought him in, but normally nothing ever escapes Carol’s watchful eye.

“How the hell did you manage to steal that? That woman watches her food like a fucking hawk,” Rick asked once he managed to pick his jaw up off the floor.

“Easy, I stole it while she was shoving Daryl out of the kitchen.”

“Hold on a sec, you said you were going to the bathroom,” Michonne said, pausing in her peeling of the potatoes.

“Yeah, I lied,” Paul said as he wiped the ends of the green beans into the trash can at the end of the table, “She likes to leave the window open on the south side of the house to let air in. I went inside and waited until I heard her confronting Daryl before I grabbed a few rolls and hopped out the window and got back before she even knew they was gone.”

“You sneaky bastard! Using my failure to turn your own profit. How often have you done this?”

“Oh, all the time. I’m a ninja remember. Just have to wait for the right moment to strike.” 

They all looked at him in absolute shock. How the hell had this guy managed to fool not only Carol, but all of them. They were all shocked, amazed, and a tiny bit jealous.

“Wait,” Daryl asked, some things finally clicking in his head, “are you the one that stole a batch of her cookies last month and a slice of pie the month before that?”

Paul smirked a bit and looked absolutely pleased with himself, “maybe.”

“You fucking bastard!” Daryl exclaimed, “She blamed me for that. She made me clean all of the dishes and clean the entire kitchen both times you asshole!”

“Sorry, not sorry. Her food is awesome. I’ll do whatever the fuck I have to get some more of it,” he said as he produced another roll from beneath the table.

“How many of them did you take?” Daryl ask, astonished at the talent of the ninja.

He’d know that Paul was sneaky, but to evade Carol for as long as he has, he really must be Jesus.

“Only like one or two, maybe three.”

“Three? I’m lucky if I’m able to finish half of one before she descends on me like the fucking plague.”

Paul laughed, “I guess you’ll just have to learn to be quicker. Or maybe figure out how to use someone else’s failure to your advantage.”

Daryl gave him his best Dixon glare and in response Paul stuck out his tongue before finishing off his second roll and picking up the last one. He watched as Paul tore it in half and held out his hand towards Daryl. After observing him skeptically and not seeing anything evil in his look, Daryl accepted the food.

“God damn, this is good,” Daryl moaned after biting into the roll.

Paul had already finished his portion of the final roll when the heard a loud yell from the kitchen, “DARYL MINGUS DIXON!” 

Out came Carol, marching at full speed across the street. It was then that Daryl figured out Paul’s plan. Paul had somehow managed to figure out exactly how long it would take for Carol to notice the missing rolls and come outside to confront Daryl. The splitting of the last roll hadn’t been a peace offering, it had been a set up. 

“ _Damn you, Paul,_ ” Daryl thought as he watched Carol speed walk over, the unfinished roll still in his hand.

He quickly shoved the rest of it into his mouth to prevent Carol from confiscating the rest of the roll. Carol stopped in front of him, her hands on her hips and giving him that playful, evil eye glare again. Daryl could hear Paul behind him attempting to hold back his laughter.

Daryl finished chewing and swallowed, “I know how it looks, but I swear it wasn’t me.” 

“Mmmhmm, are you just going ignore the fact I just caught you stuffing the last of a roll in your mouth?”

“It was Paul that stole them,” Daryl defended, “I’m just enjoying the profits of his labor.”

Carol raised her eyebrow in disbelief. At this point, Rick, Michonne, and Paul were all trying and failing to hold back their laughter at his expense. 

“Think about it, how could I have taken it when you were busy smacking me for trying to steal the soup. You know I always go for the meat.”

Carol’s gaze shifted to Paul, “That’s true. What do you have to say, Jesus?”

Paul’s innocent look wavered, but he quickly recovered, “I went to use the bathroom, Rick and Michonne can back me on that.”

“You’re saying they following you inside and watched you as you took a shit?” Carol had shifted her entire body to face Paul. 

“Uhh... no, I told them that’s where I was going. What reason would I have to steal food?” Paul deflected, picking up his water bottle and taking a long drink from it to keep from giving it away in his face.

“I don’t know, just to mess with me and annoy your boyfriend because you thought you succeeded at something he didn’t?” Carol retorted, a hint of laughter coloring her voice. 

Paul choked on his water when she said the word boyfriend and Daryl was certain if he’d been drinking something, he’d be in the same boat.

“What!?!” Paul yelped, his voice cracking a bit.

“You heard me. You both are on kitchen duty after dinner. I want the place spotless,” Carol quipped before turning around to head back inside. 

“We’re not... I’m not... we are not dating!” Paul fumbled.

Paul had thought about it, but Daryl didn’t strike him as the type of guy that would be hitting for his team. The women at Hilltop were constantly flirting with Daryl and he never seemed to mind, always talking with them gladly. And, while he’d never taken a woman up on her proposals to have a nice roll around in the sheets together to Paul’s knowledge, Daryl had never exactly turned them down. Paul often wondered if he even knew that the women were flirting with him at all. For such an observant hunter, the guy could be seriously oblivious sometimes.

“Well, you sure act like an old married couple!” Carol fired back as she disappeared into the house.

Daryl just stood there staring after her, not sure what to make of her comment. She was the only person who knew he was gay; at least, she’s the only person he’d come out to. It’s possible someone else could’ve figured it out, he supposed. She’d found out at the prison when he told her to stop her advances on him. Daryl had been terrified of her reaction, but Carol had taken the rejection and admission in stride and promised not to tell anyone.

She’d even joked about the whole situation a bit, “At least I know it’s not because I’m losing my touch. I’ve still got it, you just happen to be immune.” 

Back before the turn, when a woman would come up to him, Daryl would do his best to turn her down without revealing his sexuality. Daryl had seen what Merle and his gang did to gays and wasn’t sure he’d be spared the harsh beating that normally occurred simply because he was Merle’s little brother. Eventually Merle cornered him and drilled him about why he never had sex. Daryl had panicked and blurted out that he was asexual. When Merle gave him a confused look, Daryl explained that meant he wasn’t interested in sex ever. He preferred to just talk with people instead of fuck them within ten minutes of knowing them; which was true.

Merle backed off at Daryl’s lie stating, “Well, at least your not some fucking fag. No interest is better than the wrong kind of interest.”

From then on, Daryl had kept a policy of abstinence and didn’t sleep with anyone, male or female. Honestly though, it wasn’t that hard; he leaned more towards demisexuality anyway. It took him a long time to feel any type of romantic or sexual attraction to anyone and the person of interest was always someone Daryl had known for a while already. It was also always a guy, he’d had female friends before, but never developed any kind of romantic or sexual attraction to any of them regardless of how long he knew them.

He wasn’t a virgin, but he’d only had sex once. It was with his ex-boyfriend, Jack, of a year on their one year anniversary. Jack had died the following week in a car crash due to his bad habit drinking and driving. Jack had slammed his truck head on with another car and was killed on impact. He’d also cause the deaths of two teenagers in the other car and injured another to the point he could no longer walk.

Daryl did not enjoy talking about Jack because people usually ended up thinking the man was a douchebag due to how he died. Daryl never told them he was an ex-navy seal and suffered from severe PTSD from his time overseas. The only way Jack could sleep was to get so high or drunk he just passed out. Daryl didn’t approve of his constant drinking and it had been getting better, but that night he’d received news his best friend had been killed overseas. He left Daryl’s trailer in a rush and Daryl didn’t see him again until he was called down to the police station to identify his body.

* * *

Paul spluttered, “We do not!”

Michonne stepped in, “Yeah, you kinda do.”

Daryl finally snapped out of it, “What do you mean? No we don’t.”

“Yeah, you do,” Rick stated matter of factly, “You two are constantly together, tend to bicker over unimportant things and then move on together like nothing ever happened, take joy rides together on your bikes, and - as evident by what just happened - like to mess with each other just for the hell of it. If that’s not an old, happily married couple, I don’t know what is. If I had tried to do half that shit with Lori, she’d have bitten my goddamn head off.” 

Paul hadn’t really realized just how close they’d become, it had kind of just happened. They worked really well together, shared a lot of interests, and just simply enjoyed spending time together talking and making the other laugh. Paul _had_ stolen the rolls to mess with Daryl, but he’d never really looked at their antics is such a domestic light before. God, they really were acting like an old married couple.

Some might say best friends or brothers, but Rick was Daryl’s brother and Daryl had a lot of close friends now - so close they might as well be family - but he didn’t treat Paul like either of those. There were things Daryl talked about with Paul he’d never talk about with Rick or even Carol. His past abuse at the hands of his father, his own struggles with alcohol, and the reasons he refuses to drink at all anymore. Paul was the same way, Daryl wasn’t his brother, but he didn’t exactly see him as just a friend either. Paul wanted more, he just didn’t think Daryl wanted the same; so he never brought his feelings up.

“You and Michonne do that exact same stuff!” Daryl said attempting to defend himself.

Rick raised his eyebrow at Daryl, wondering if he’d figure out how that statement didn’t help his case at all.

“That’s not what I meant, I know you two are together, I just meant that... that... oh, fuck this. You know what I meant,” Daryl huffed. 

“No, we really don’t,” Michonne replied, backing up Rick, obviously enjoying watching Daryl scramble to defend himself and failing miserably.

Daryl had never told her he was gay, but it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. When she first met them, Daryl spent half his free time staring at Rick’s ass. She didn’t call him out on it because she was in the exact same boat.

“We’re friends, best friends. Everything we do, is completely normal in that regard,” Paul said, stepping in to defend Daryl who was obviously growing more and more uncomfortable with the conversation.

“Besides, he’s not even gay. All of the women at Hilltop are flirting with him and he doesn’t seem to mind it at all. If he was gay, he’d have told them to stop flirting with him ages ago just like I did when I first arrived.”

Daryl didn’t say a word, he’d never realized the girls were flirting with him, he’d just thought they were being nice. In his experience, flirting was a half drunk or extremely high woman falling ungracefully into his lap and asking to ride his cock in the middle of a dive bar. He’d never realized all of those woman were flirting with him. He’d have to fix that once they got back to Hilltop. He didn’t want to lead any of them on unintentionally.

“Isn’t that right, Daryl?” Paul asked, looking right at him.

Daryl bit his bottom lip and ducked his head, not saying a thing.

“Daryl?” Paul asked again, his confidence in his observations rapidly draining.

“I didn’t know they were flirting,” Daryl practically mumbled, refusing to look at Paul, “Thought they were just being nice.”

“You’re not interested in any of them?” Paul was shocked, he was sure Daryl was straight. 

“Nope.”

“Oh... okay,” Paul answered, unsure how to respond to that admission.

Daryl put his hands in his pockets and kept his eyes on the ground, “Yeah, they’re not my type.” 

But before Paul could process that comment, Carol was leaning out the door and shouting for him and Michonne to bring the food they’d prepared in to be cooked.

“How could Daryl have not noticed those women were flirting with him? I mean, Janet practically swung her breasts in his face when she served him his dinner last week,” Paul asked Michonne as they made their way into the kitchen, Daryl now safely out of earshot.

“I don’t know,” Michonne replied, dropping the bucket of potatoes onto the kitchen counter, “As long as I’ve known him, he’s never been with anyone.”

“Ever?”

“Never,” Michonne reaffirmed, “But you’re wrong you know.”

“About what?”

“Daryl isn’t straight.”

“How do you know, did he tell you?”

“Nope,” Michonne smirked, “When I first arrived at the prison, Daryl’s favorite view was Rick’s ass. I only noticed because I was watching it too.”

Paul’s eye widened at the revelation, “So Daryl is definitely gay?”

“Well, more specifically I’d say demisexual because I’ve never seen him show any interest in people he’d just met, but he’s definitely into guys.”

“Wow, usually my gaydar is on point. How the fuck did I miss that?” Paul was genuinely baffled at the sudden turn of events.

“I don’t know, maybe you were too busy watching his ass to see that his eyes are watching yours,” Michonne smirked.

Everyone in Daryl’s family had figured it out over time and were rooting for the two to finally pull their head out of their asses and see that their feelings for the other were mutual.

Paul stopped walking, “Wait, what? You mean...”

“Yes, now put those green beans in the kitchen and go get him. For fucks sake, it’s been over a year of having to watch you two fall for each other and not tell the other; I’m sick of it.”

“So am I,” Carol said coming around the corner, wiping her hands on her apron.

“How are you two so sure?” Paul questioned.

“Hon, he built you a bike designed specially for you and your interests. He talks to you about what happened in the sanctuary. One time on s run he spent almost the whole day searching an organic grocery store to see if they had any of that fancy coffee you love left. He managed to find the bags of the stuff in the place’s storage rooms and took special care to only give you one bag a month so you wouldn’t use it all up before he could find you more; which he spent a lot of time looking for. So trust me, he likes you a lot,” Michonne assured him.

Carol leaned forward and grabbed the beans out of his hands, “Thank you, now get out of here and go make my brother happy. God know he deserves it.”

“Thanks!” Paul turned around and speed walked back out of the house.

When he reached where Daryl had last been, he wasn’t there anymore.

“Rick! Where’s Daryl?” Paul called over to him.

“Finally figured it out did ya?”

“No, Michonne and Carol told me.”

Rick laughed, “I knew they wouldn’t be able to keep their noses out of it forever.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, where is he?”

“He went visit Tara and Rosita. They’re staying in the Oceanside guest house.”

“Thanks,” Paul said before walking off.

It was taking everything in him not to sprint to Daryl, but the last thing he wanted to do was look desperate and scare Daryl off; or just cause a panic in general. After the turn, when someone goes sprinting through a community, it doesn’t usually mean good news. More often than not it meant a fight was coming.

Paul could hear laughter when he approached the Oceanside guest house. Each community had a designated guest area for visitors from each community. Back at Hilltop, each community decorated a room in Barrington for them. In the Kingdom, each community decorated a couple rooms for them. In Oceanside, each community had their own hut to stay in. In Alexandria, each community got one of the empty houses. The significance of each community decorating their own guest houses meant that a little bit of home was spread across all of the communities. It was a symbol of peace and community between the separate places.

Oceanside’s house had a nautical theme, Hilltops a farming theme, and the kingdom’s was full of antiques found at a local medieval museum. Back at Hilltop, Alexandria’s room had a more modern theme with comic books framed on the walls in honor of Carl. These themes were the same throughout the communities so every team that came could feel at home no matter where they were or how long they had to be there. 

They even had rooms decorated at the new Sanctuary, but so far nobody had stayed there long enough to use one. Daryl flat out refused to make any runs for any reason to the place and Paul didn’t blame him. The man suffered from severe PTSD from the place, why the hell would he want to go back? It was usually Paul that did those runs because he was the least likely person to knock the sanctuary’s new leader’s, Eugene’s, head off his shoulders. He was also the only one around to kind of understand the way the guy speaks; but even he got lost at times. The dude seriously had an annoyingly complex and expansive vocabulary. 

Paul quickly hopped up the steps and walked through the front door to see Daryl, Tara, and Rosita standing around the island in the kitchen talking, laughing, and drinking coffee. Tara and Rosita were sitting shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, and holding hands on the countertop. A few months ago Tara and Rosita had made their new relationship public and Paul couldn’t be happier for them. He was overjoyed to see the two women move past their previous lost loves and find each other.

Daryl looked up, “Hey Paul. What you doing here? Carol kick you out to prevent you from stealing anything else?”

“Nah, she sent me here to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“It can wait,” Paul deflected, he didn’t think Daryl would appreciate having this conversation in front of people, even if those people were Tara and Rosita.

Paul walked over and leaned against the island, pouring himself a cup of coffee before joining the conversation.

* * *

They stayed there joking and talking until Michonne came to fetch them for dinner. She had Judith in her arms, but the second Judith saw Daryl she squealed, “Uncle Daryl” and reached out her arms, asking for Daryl to take her.

Daryl was amazing with Judith and Paul’s heart melted every time at the sight of Daryl playing with her like everything was perfect in the world. She made all of the worries disappear from his shoulders and it was beautiful. Paul hoped to have to same effect on Daryl someday.

“Come here,” Daryl said taking the little girl into his arms and hugging her to his chest.

Judith wrapped her arms around Daryl’s neck and giggled in delight at being with her favorite person besides her parents. Michonne had cried the day Judith had called her mommy for the first time. She had cried with pain of the loss of her own son and with joy for finding a new family. She had been cradling Judith on the couch next to Rick in their Alexandrian home a few days after Paul first arrived when it happened. Judith now called Michonne mommy all the time, it was like she couldn’t get enough of the word. Honestly, she probably couldn’t since she never had someone to call mommy before. Michonne’s face every time Judith called her mommy was priceless.

Paul had never really wanted kids before the turn, but every time he saw Daryl with Judith, that feeling changed more and more. But, in the apocalypse, that was pretty much impossible without a horrible tragedy occurring right before. Maybe he and Daryl could find a stray dog or cat to fill the void. If Daryl wanted that, of course. Bringing a dog or cat into a community now could cause problems since they are all pretty much wild animals now from lack of human interaction.

Paul watched and Daryl swung the little girls around lightly in his arms and kissed her cheek.

“You hungry?” Daryl asked Judith.

“Yes!” She squeal removing her arms from Daryl’s neck and throwing them up in the air to show her excitement. 

“Then let’s go get some food. Hopefully Aunt Carol will actually let me have some of the nice stew now.” 

Paul followed Daryl out the door with the three women close behind him. He could see the whole community gathering around the long table in the middle of the street in front of Rick’s house. It was set up every month using picnic tables found in local parks and other tables taken from a local school’s cafeteria. They’d even managed to find a few high chairs. Judith had already outgrown them, but they would be good for future children. Paul was eventually expecting to hear a happy announcement at one of these gatherings that Rick and Michonne were expecting a child of their own. I mean, it’s not like there are a lot of options for protection anymore since most of the condoms they’d found recently expired a while ago; it was still better than nothing.

Rick sat at the head of the table with Michonne in his left and Daryl on his right still holding Judith. Paul took the seat next to Daryl and shook his head and mouthed “not yet” at Michonne and Carol’s questioning looks. They nodded and returned to passing food around so everyone could get some. Paul watched as Daryl helped make Judith a plate of veggies, mashed potatoes, and bread while also preparing his own plate with the same stuff. Daryl filled his bowl with the stew and shared it with Judith instead of pouring her some in a separate bowl. It was fucking adorable in Paul’s opinion.

Paul laughed when Daryl turned his head to say something to Rick and Judith shoved her hands in the mashed potatoes before turning to Daryl grabbing his face, her hands still covered in potatoes. Daryl couldn’t even muster up the strength to half heartedly glare at the little girl, he just burst out laughing. In retaliation, Daryl grabbed on of Judith’s potato covered hands and the girl squealed when the licked the palm of her hand. When Daryl released her hands to grab a napkin, she started clapping which caused little bits of potato to fly all over Daryl. Little globs if it stuck in his hair, but he just calmly used the napkin to wipe her hands before sticking his tongue out at her, “no more potatoes for you,” he scolded.

The rest of the dinner went on uneventfully, with Judith occasionally trying to grab more potatoes with her little fists, but Daryl had moved her plate out of reach. So, she just resorted to squealing loudly and using his hair as leverage to get his attention back on her whenever she felt it started to shift. They two were so cute together, it made Paul melt like butter left out in the sun. He could tell Rick and Michonne were feeling the same thing as they watched Daryl play with Judith.

After Daryl took Judith upstairs to put her to bed - Rick had tried to take her, but Judith had grabbed two fist fulls of Daryl’s hair and refused to be taken away from her Uncle Daryl - Michonne, Rick, and Carol descended on Paul.

“What do you mean ‘not yet’?” Carol asked, “It’s been over a year.”

“I mean ‘not yet’ as in I haven’t been able to get him alone just yet. When I found him he was with Tara and Rosita. It would’ve been suspicious and awkward to pull him from that conversation to have that kind of heart to heart without an explanation before hand.”

“True,” Rick agreed, “what about tonight?” 

“Damn, you guys are really pushing this. It makes me wonder if Daryl actually likes me or if you just want him to.”

“No, no, he really does. We’re only meddling because this stalemate you two have been in didn’t seem to have an end date and it was pissing us off,” Michonne assured Paul. 

“Yeah, we only want him to be happy and we’re sure you can give him that,” Rick said. 

Paul nodded, accepting their explanations for this sudden outburst of meddling in his love life. It made sense because while he was convinced Daryl was straight, Daryl was probably too afraid to approach the subject due to his upbringing.

“I’ll try to talk to him tonight back at our house,” Paul told them, “but it might take some time for anything to happen. He told me about his childhood and stuff like that doesn’t just up and disappear when you meet someone you like.”

“We know, but we would like to see him try at least,” Michonne said, “he’s been through so much, he deserves to be happy.”

“And so do you,” Maggie said joining the conversation.

She had been listening from her seat at the table, rocking Hershel back and forth in her arms as he slept. 

“Thanks Maggie,” Paul smiled, god he loved her. 

She’d called him her brother a few months ago for the first time and Paul hadn’t stopped hugging her for like ten minutes straight. Being accepted into this family was the best thing that ever happened to him. 

“You’re welcome, now I’m going to go out this one to bed and go to sleep myself,” Maggie said shifting the sleeping baby a bit in her arms, “if you wake him up with whatever it is you two get up to, you’re walking back to Hilltop.”

Paul’s eyes widened and he blushed a bit at her blatant implications, “I don’t think we’ll be doing anything like that tonight. I don’t think either of us are the kind of people that have sex on the first date.”

“I know, but still. I figured I should at least give you a fair warning.”

“Fair enough,” Paul conceded as he made to stand up seeing the light go off in Judith’s room, but Rick grabbed his arm.

Paul looked at Rick I confusion before Rick spoke, “Now look, I trust you and you were probably expecting this as some point, but if you do anything to hurt him, I’ll kill you.”

Michonne cleared her throat and Rick amended his last statement, “What I meant to say is _we’ll_ kill you.”

Paul looked around and saw that all four of them were looking at him with expressions that accurately conveyed the seriousness of that threat.

Paul placed his free hand over the hand Rick had placed on his arm, “I’ll do my very best not to hurt him in any way, but if I do, I promise, I’ll _help_ you throw me to the walkers.”

Rick nodded, satisfied with his answer and let Paul continue on his way to meet up with Daryl.


	2. I Understood That Reference

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Working on a longer fic now that I hope to start posting fairly soon. This chapter is kinda short compared to my normal chapter length, but this was only supposed to be a one shot anyway.
> 
> Enjoy! Comments are greatly appreciated. <3

“Hey,” Paul said catching up to Daryl on his way out of Rick’s house.

“Hey,” Daryl replied slowing his pace a bit to compensate for Paul smaller strides allowing them to fall into step with each other, “what was it you needed to talk to me about earlier?”

“Oh yes, that...” Paul cleared his throat nervously, he’d hoped Daryl wouldn’t mention it until they’d got back to Hilltop’s house, “umm... maybe that conversation should wait until we’re somewhere more... private.”

Daryl paused with an uncertain look, “What could be so bad you can’t tell me here?”

When Paul didn’t say anything, Daryl face shifted to one of worry, “Is something wrong? Did someone get bit?”

Daryl harbored a lot of fear over losing another one of his family members to walkers after the revelation that Carl had been bit. He hadn’t even had time to say a proper goodbye in the rush to get the rest of the Alexandrian residents to safety at Hilltop. The first time Daryl had visited Alexandria after the war ended, he spent hours just sitting by Carl’s grave thinking about all of the good Carl had brought into his life. Carl was among the first people to treat him like part of the group back at the farm, he’d made Daryl an uncle, and helped teach Daryl how to love. Sure, Rick was his best friend, but even back at the quarry he’d have used his own body as a human shield to protect Carl if needed. Carl’s had part of his heart since the day they met and he told him his crossbow was the coolest thing he’d ever seen.

“No!” Paul was quick to shut down Daryl’s train of thought, “No, nothing bad has happened. I just need to ask you something and I’d rather not do it where anyone can hear us. It’s a personal matter.”

“Okay.”

Daryl still looked unsure, but relented and continued on towards the house. They kicked off their boots by the door, Daryl taking longer because he always ties his pants to his tops of his boots even when he’s not planning on going outside the walls. Paul couldn’t hear any movement upstairs, so he assumed Maggie had gone to be after putting Hershel in his crib. Daryl moved to go upstairs, but Paul reached out and grabbed his wrist to stop him. He didn’t want to have this conversation within earshot of Hershel because should things go south, he wanted to try to avoid waking him up.

Daryl allowed Paul to pull him into the living room and sit down on the couch. Paul released his hand before shifting away from him a bit and running his hand through his hair, a habit, Daryl’s noticed, that only presents itself when Paul is extremely nervous about something.

“You’re doing that thing again,” Daryl commented.

“What thing?” Paul asked, confused.

“You’re playing with your hair, means you’re nervous,” Daryl explained, “What’s got you so on edge?”

“Something Michonne and Carol told me.”

Daryl’s stomach dropped, he had a bad feeling about this, “And what was that?”

Paul took a deep breath, wanting to ease Daryl into the conversation, he started slow, “Ever since I met you, I thought you were straight.”

The sick feeling in Daryl’s stomach grew exponentially at that sentence. He started opening and closing his hands slightly to keep the sweat building up there from making wet spots on his jeans. He didn’t want Paul to see how much this was affecting him.

“When I ran into you and Rick on the road, you both acted in such a way that I associated with hyper masculine, straight men; a type of person that I usually found myself at odds with before the turn. And while I soon discovered that you both were not at all what I thought - you are good people, nothing like the assholes I compared you with - I still thought you were as straight as one of your arrows. This was only further proven by you not shutting down the women flirting with you at Hilltop, but today I found out that you didn’t even know they were flirting with you.”

Daryl nodded, “Yeah, I told you that. I feel kinda bad about it; didn’t mean to lead them on for long.”

“It’s fine, you didn’t know. But, that’s when I started to doubt my observations. Then you explained your lack of attraction by stating ‘their not my type.’ What did you mean by that statement?”

Daryl looked at Paul, he could tell Paul already knew he wasn’t straight, but he was giving him an out and Daryl appreciated that. Paul wasn’t going to force him to continue this conversation if he didn’t want to. He could easily brush it off by describing the type of girl he liked and moving on and Paul would let him even though he’d know it was a lie. Paul was giving him the option to come out to him willingly or shut down the conversation before it went too far.

“They’re not my type because... I prefer guys,” Daryl whispered.

Paul nodded and waited a moment for Daryl to process what he’d said, coming out to someone, even if you think they already know you know, can be a stressful and nerve wracking experience.

“But you already knew that, didn’t you?” Daryl asked.

“Yeah,” Paul admitted, looking and feeling a bit guilty.

“How’d you finally figure it out, just by that comment?”

“Nah, I’m too thick for that sometimes. Michonne and Carol told me when I asked them how it was possible you didn’t register the flirting for what it was.”

“Oh, what else did they tell you?”

Paul could tell Daryl was nervous about his answer, wondering just how much of his private life had been leaked to him without his express permission.

“Michonne told me you haven’t been with anyone as long as she’s known you and when I asked her how she figured it out she told me noticed you looking up Rick back at the prison because she was doing the same thing.”

Daryl blushed hard at that, “Not anymore, Rick’s my brother. Those feeling died a long time ago when I realized I was attracted more to the idea of him than Rick himself.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Rick’s kind, honest, smart - a leader. He had every trait I could want in a romantic partner, but as our time at the prison went on, my feeling started to change as I began noticing more things. The trait that finally turned me off in a romantic way towards him was his outburst against Tyreese. Ty had been seeing this woman, Karen, and she got sick with a virus that killed you in 24 hours; at that point we’d already lost a few people to it. In an attempt to stop the disease from spreading, Carol killed her, dragged her body outside, and burned her.”

Paul eyes widened, he couldn’t believe Carol would’ve done something like that. Then again, that woman was fucking terrifying when it comes to protecting her family, so if she thought it would save them it made sense; no matter how horrible or wrong it was.

“Ty lost it when he discovered her burned body and called me, Rick, and Carol out to see it and try to figure out who did it. Ty was beyond pissed and made sure we all knew it. When I tried to get out of there to cool off, he slammed me into the metal bars of one of the doors. Rick went to pull Ty off me and Ty punched him. Rick was still mentally unstable from everything that had happened with the governor and when Ty hit him, it was game over. Rick laid into Ty like a man possessed. It was brutal and he didn’t let up until I managed to drag him off.”

“That’s when you stopped seeing him in a romantic light, right?”

Daryl nodded.

“Why? I mean, I’ve beaten people up before and so have you. What was so bad about Rick doing it that you stopped looking at him the same way?”

“The way he fought, tackling Ty onto the ground and just wailing on him without letting up,... it reminded me too much of my father. I’d seen glimpses of it before, but that was it. Ty didn’t deserve what Rick did to him and while I get Rick was unstable, it doesn’t make it any better.”

Daryl looked away from Paul and moved his hand out to his mouth to start gnawing on the flesh of his thumb.

Paul nodded, listening silently.

“I used to think he was perfect, but he's too quick to violence and when he starts, sometimes it’s hard to snap him out of it. Afterwards, I couldn’t shake the feeling that in the right conditions, he’d do that to me.”

“Rick would never...”

“I know that, but the idea of being with someone who has the ability to make me flashback to my father beating me nearly to death for no reason is not someone I can handle being with.”

“I want to say I understand what that feels like, but then I’d be lying. I may have grown up in the system, but I was never abused. People usually sent me back when they found out I was gay and had no intention of staying in the closet. Did your family ever figure out that you’re gay?”

“Nah, I never told my Dad or was with anyone while I was staying with him and when Merle cornered me to demand why I never accepted girls’ propositions, I panicked and told him I was asexual. It wasn’t a total lie, but not the truth either.”

“Not a total lie?”

“Yeah, I’d say I’m more demisexual than strictly gay. It took me more than six months to develop feelings for the only guy, Jack, I’ve ever been with. Then it took me another year to feel comfortable having sex with him.”

“What happened?”

“He was killed in a car accident a week after our one year anniversary.”

Paul placed a comforting hand on Daryl’s shoulder, “I’m so sorry.”

“I’m fine, I’d already been debating about ending it since the only reason I had that chance was because Merle had been in jail for the past two years. He was released a month after my Jack was killed. Merle probably would’ve killed Jack for “turning me into a fag” had I still been with him when he got out.”

“Still, I’m sorry.”

“Thanks, Paul.”

They just sat there for a while, absorbing what they’d learned before Paul spoke up again, “Michonne told me one more thing. She told me why she decided to tell me you weren’t straight after keeping quiet all this time.”

“Oh yeah, what was the reason? She have a sudden epiphany while eating a candy bar and decided to tell you,” Daryl joked.

Paul laughed lightly before going for it, “Nah, she told me she finally decided to tell me because she was sick of seeing you and me falling for each other and never telling the other.”

Daryl stiffened under his touch.

“Was she telling the truth?”

Daryl swallowed and shifted uncomfortably under Paul’s touch so Paul removed his hand. Paul’s stomach dropped a bit and he prayed he hadn’t just fucked up their relationship based on Michonne telling him Daryl was into him.

“Daryl?” Paul prompted.

Daryl swallowed hard, “She was telling the truth. I’m sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, I can move...”

“Shut up.”

Daryl stopped talking and looked at Paul in confusion.

“She said, and I quote, that I was ‘too busy watching your ass to notice that your eyes were watching mine.’”

Daryl still looked confused, he obviously wasn’t taking the hint.

“That means I like you, too.”

Daryl’s eyes widened in realization, “Oh! Um... good, that’s good.”

Paul giggled at Daryl’s reaction before scooting closer to him on the couch and planting a hesitant kiss on Daryl’s cheek. Paul was just trying to test the waters with Daryl, now that he knew the man was demisexual and not simply gay, he wasn’t sure how far Daryl was ready to go just yet. Paul himself wasn’t ready for sex, but he did want to kiss Daryl.

Daryl didn’t even hesitate before turning his head and responding to Paul’s tiny peck, “you missed.”

“What do you mean I missed?”

“You missed.”

“Oh!” Paul realized what he was saying all too slowly and leaned forward to kiss Daryl again, this time on the lips.

It was just a quick press of lips, nothing fancy or sexual at all and it was perfect.

“I understood that reference,” Paul laughed.

“ _And a real nerd, like me, would understand that reference_ ,” Paul thought, but Daryl didn’t strike him as the kind of guy that would enjoy Marvel movies all that much.

Daryl’s eyebrows furrowed, “what reference?”

“Your reference to the movie Elf.”

Daryl looked incredibly confused.

“You know, the movie Elf in the scene where Will Ferrell’s character, Buddy, kisses the girl he likes, Jovie, on the cheek while they’re ice skating and she replies, ‘you missed’ before kissing Buddy on the lips.”

“Never heard of it.”

Paul jaw dropped, “you’ve never seen Elf?”

“Nope.”

“Oh my god, it is the best Christmas movie of all time! I have to find it now so I can show it to you. Rick has a working DVD player, right?”

“Yeah, but Die Hard is the best Christmas movie.”

Paul rolled his eyes and kissed Daryl again, “Sure,you’ll see. Elf is a great movie.”

“Maybe, but it can’t beat Die Hard. The line ‘Yippie ki yay, motherfucker’ is the best movie line ever.”

“I disagree, I prefer the line ‘Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.’”

“Of course you would, that movie was just another stupid romance trying too hard to add action.”

“Well if it’s just some ‘stupid romance’ movie, why do you even know what it is?”

“I was drunk and we only had one channel that worked and that happened to be one. Some kind of anniversary or something.”

Paul laughed, “I’m still shocked you know it.”

“Yeah...”

Paul could tell Daryl wanted something. He got his answer when Daryl surged forward and kissed him again. Paul wrapped his arms around Daryl’s neck and began leaning back, inviting Daryl to lay down with him. Daryl slid one arm under and around Paul’s wasit and used it to position them on their sides on the couch. Once they were laying down, Paul entwined their legs while Daryl wrapped his other arm around his shoulders and pulled Paul closer against him.

They stayed like this, kissing and lightly caressing each other’s faces and necks until they both fell asleep curled around each other. And if Maggie came downstairs the next morning and found them like this and covered them with a blanket before taking a picture of them on Glenn’s old film camera; nobody was the wiser. That is until Maggie posted the photo on the billboard in Rick’s house.

Daryl and Paul had blushed so hard when they saw it at that day’s meeting to plan the next gathering and trade between the communities. They’d tried to glare at Maggie, but were unable to maintain the angry facade for long before they both joined in on their friends’ laughter. They both smiled and held hands throughout the meeting and their family was super excited for them.

When they returned back to Hilltop the next day and began unpacking their bags, a bag full of lube fell out of one of the pockets of Daryl’s backpack. Confused, Daryl picked it up and read the note attached to the bag.

“Congratulations bro! Now I command you to fuck Paul’s brains out - Tara and Rosita.”

Daryl’s face turned redder than a tomato and Paul burst out laughing.

He walked up to Daryl and kissed him before reassuring him, “not until you’re ready.”

And if it only took Daryl a week of kissing Paul to be ready to move forward, who the fuck cares. They’d been in love for over a year already anyway.


End file.
